


With Not So Tough Words

by Estirose



Category: Power Rangers Time Force
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-11
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-11-28 23:52:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/680288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katie wants to get married properly to Trip.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With Not So Tough Words

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gingayellow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingayellow/gifts).



> Prequel to "To Hold and to Have".

Trip looked like he'd swallowed a lemon when Katie asked him about whether he was planning on inviting his family to the wedding. Of course, it seemed natural to her that both families should be invited, but she didn't know how Xybrian customs went, and besides, Trip rarely spoke about his family.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, reaching across the table to take his hand. She sometimes wished she was empathic like he was, just so that she could understand half of what he was feeling.

"Um... I think we might not want to bring this up to my family," Trip said. Looking down, he traced an intricate pattern on the table with his finger. "As far as my family is concerned, the parents arrange the marriages, so, um. They're not going to take this well at all."

"Oh, Trip." She knew that arranged marriages had happened in Earth's past, but she'd never thought she'd run across a living example. "Is there any way that me and my family can help?"

"I guess if your parents started talking to my parents, and my mother agreed...."

She nodded. "We'll do whatever it takes, Trip." If it took her parents negotiating with Trip's, then that's what she'd do. "Just let Mom know how to get in contact with yours, and she'll do everything she can."

Her mom was really good at negotiating; she'd have Trip's mom eating out of the palm of her hand, as the saying went.

He gave her a shy smile, but it was kind of twisted into a grimace. "My mom's kind of... well, Xybrian matchmaking has to do with temperaments, and I don't know if she'll ever believe that a human is a match for her son. Even if you and I would get along really, really great."

"Just leave it to mom," she reassured him again. It was all that she could do; whatever needed to be done, her mom would do it. "Anything else I should know?"

Her mom liked Trip, after all. Both of her parents did, as did her sister and her brother.

"We're not really supposed to be alone together until we get married," Trip said. "It's to make sure we stay pure for each other until we're bonded. Even if there's no bonding. Of course, my mother will insist."

"As long as she doesn't think my place is in the kitchen," Katie said, "We'll get along fine."

"Oh, no! Women are part of public life on Xybria. It's kind of more... you go into careers according to your talents, not your gender. Because we bond with our kids, it's okay to have daycare and things like that. In fact, it's considered healthy for them."

It was reassuring in a way. "But you left."

"Um, well, my mom's kind of... forthright, and I wanted to go into the police force when I was tested to be an engineer. Mom's rather strict about that, we had a disagreement, and... I came here."

"Oh." Well, there was little that could be done about that. She and her mom would just have to win Trip's mom over. "After this, we just won't be alone together."

He smiled. "I think that'll help with my mother."

She got up and gave him a hug. Because she could.

* * *

Her mother gave her the news a few days later. "I explained the whole thing," Marie Walker said, with a smile as they had dinner together. "At least she seemed to be pretty happy that you stepped back once you realized that you were violating her traditions. As far as I could tell, at least. We're still in negotiations about you two, but I'm optimistic that she'll see things our way and let you get married."

"Thanks, mom." She gave her mother a tight hug. Her mom was probably thrilled to be helping out; she was a negotiator, not a wedding planner.

"It's not a problem. This is what I'm good at." She gave Katie a smile as Katie settled back down at the table. "There might be a few rough spots, but we'll get through this."

"I wish Trip had told me about this sooner, like after I proposed to him." It was a minor rough spot. At least it was fixable, even though she really wanted to be able to just hang out with Trip and watch movies with him.

"Every relationship has its rough spots. Your Dad and I don't always see eye to eye either - that's part of negotiation. Figuring out what each side needs and what's the best way to reach the goal without causing too many problems." There was a twinkle in her eye.

"Thanks, mom." She felt better; Trip wasn't perfect, she knew, and who'd want to bring up something so negative when he had her family, her wonderful, loving family, in comparison.

  
*  *  *

She didn't hear anything from her mother, so she kept to her promise, not being anywhere with Trip where they were alone. It annoyed her a little, but she trusted her parents, and she figured that something was going on or her mother would have said something.  
   
As if hearing her thoughts, which she knew was impossible as the family was in no way telepathic, her mother called. "How would you and Trip like to come over for lunch this weekend? I've got a family guest!"  
   
"Sure," she said. She figured that her mom wanted to show off her pride in her.  
   
"Invite Trip, you know he's adorable." Her mother was grinning.  
   
"Sure, mom." She was grinning back when she signed off. She sent Trip a message - she'd had to switch to that after studying up on Xybrian courting protocol.  
   
He didn't reply for a while, and she figured he was busy. Then he replied with a "That's great! I love your mom's cooking."  
   
"Trip, everybody loves my mom's cooking." She rolled her eyes as she typed in the text. She could almost imagine his grin.  
   
"Tell her I'll be there. Just tell me when."  
   
"Will do. Talk to you later." She grinned and shook her head.  
   
She was looking forward to the weekend.  
   
*  *  *  
   
Her father picked her and Trip up, because she was still determined to honor Xybrian tradition. He had a bemused smile on his face as he sat her in the front seat and Trip in the back. "Your mom's good at negotiating," he said. "Just a little longer with this, okay?"  
   
"Dad, it's not a problem." She'd do almost anything for Trip, and while observing Xybrian tradition was annoying, it was hardly illegal. She wanted to keep Trip from being cut off from his family for having the audacity to marry her, after all.  
   
They arrived at her parents' place a little bit later, and Katie strode forward to greet her mom and their visitors.Who, as it turned out, were two Xybrians with greying hair - a woman and a man in some kind of getup.  
   
"Katie, this is Jinan, Trip's mother, and Miraj, who is - a priest?" Her mother's smile was warm, but there was a tiredness about her, and when Katie glanced at Trip, he was doing his best to hide a grimace. She suspected it was more for her sake than his mother's.  
   
"The concept is close enough," Miraj said. Katie hoped that he wasn't going to try to marry them then and there. She wasn't sure how she could take a surprise wedding. "I will need to touch your daughter briefly."  
   
Katie wanted to yell that she was right there, but she reminded herself that she couldn't rock the boat. Not at the moment.So, she let Miraj touch her.  
   
He had cold hands, and she swore she felt a tickle mentally before he let go. He glanced at Trip's mother, Jinan, and both their gems glowed.  
   
"Then, let's eat." Jinan said regally.  
   
"Certainly." Marie Walker smiled. "Please, right this way."  
   
"We don't usually sit down and eat after this," Trip said quietly. "And we don't usually invite the priest."  
   
His mother was doing it for the sake of getting along with her mother, she realized. She took a chair near her mother's usual place, and Trip took a seat on the other side. His mother and Miraj sat down as her parents served the meal.  
   
"Sorry for the surprise, dear," her mother said said, "But I couldn't tell you."  
   
"It's all right," she said. She was determined to follow Xybrian custom, for Trip's sake.  
   
Unexpectedly, Jinan smiled. Miraj nodded. "You are compatible."  
   
"Which means that we can negotiate the wedding - weddings, it sounds like. Jinan, I leave it to you to prepare for the wedding on Xybria - I think my daughter would like to resume normal Earth relationship customs somewhere in the near future...."  
   
"She does my son honor by keeping so carefully to ours," Jinan said, nodding. "I agree. Our family is not poor - we can certainly pay for your transport to Xybria, to escort our children there...."  
   
The two families ate, though things were a little bit strained, Katie thought, with the formality of her and Trip not being married. But finally, Jinan and the priest Miraj left, entrusting her parents with keeping the two of them in line. Or that was the impression that she got.  
   
Her mom hugged her as soon as she got a chance. "Katie, you did good! I'm proud of you! Trip, too. Don't worry - I think Jinan understands young love."  
   
"I think my mother likes you too." Trip admitted.  
   
"Trip, everybody likes me. Mostly." Marie Walker was grinning ear to ear.  
   
"And her food," Katie's father said. "If you hadn't won her over one way, we were sure we could have convinced her another."  
   
"Um, actually, we wouldn't have been allowed to wed, but I'm sure my mother would have made it her mission to find Katie someone compatible," Trip said, and she swore that he was blushing a little. "Mom would have considered it an honor to play matchmaker...."  
   
Katie shook her head at the thought of being sent Xybrian suitors by Trip's mom, and was just as glad that she'd won her over - or at least the priest over. She'd be able to marry Trip, and it didn't sound too bad.  
   
Soon, they'd be able to shout their marriage to the world, and Katie couldn't wait.  
  



End file.
